“Any one here speak English?” he demanded.
Instantly a figure sprang forward out of the crowd of sightseers beyond the military lines. Having advanced boldly, the volunteer hesitated an instant, as if he had acted upon an impulse, regretted a moment too late. It was Mori, but Mori still in disguise.
The American lieutenant saw his hesitation.
“Do you speak English?”
Keiki summoned such knowledge of the language as Satsuma had taught him. He answered briefly:
“Yes.”
“Then ask what these screens have been put up for.”
Keiki repeated the question to the Japanese officer, who, angered at his penetration of their evasion, cast surly glances upon him. They answered readily, however. Mori translated their reply into English a moment later.
“They say,” he reported, “that in Nippon all great gatherings are private. These screens keep off the common, low people.”
“Tell them these things must come down,” ordered the officer, in what the Japanese considered an impolite, not to say insolent, tone.